June 11, 1999 - The Reform Party and the Republican Party are both holding all-day conventions on Saturday, and both plan to elect new chairmen and party executives. One potential new leader says it's time for his party to grow up a little; another says "stay the course."
June 8, 1999 - Business leaders are asking themselves if there was anything the state could have done to keep Honeywell from leaving Minnesota. The general consensus is NO -- for one thing, Honeywell kept its merger plans secret from state officials until the last minute. But some people inside and outside government say the state should take Honeywell's sudden departure as a warning of things to come.
May 26, 1999 - Legislators and special interests spent the day picking through the 37 vetoes Governor Ventura dropped on them last night . The vetoes are far-ranging, and they cancel about $140 Million dollars of state spending and borrowing, depending on how you count them. The beneficiaries of specific projects are up in arms over the vetoes... but legislative leaders are not so upset, now that they've had a few hours to look them over. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Measured by sheer dollar amount, Winona State University lost the most from Ventura's flurry of vetoes. The University's physical plant manager, Dick Lande (LAND-ee), says the school was counting on $6 Million dollars in state bonding money to pay for three new boilers in the heating system. Ventura vetoed that money, and now Landee has to worry about possible structural damage if the old boilers fail before the Legislature can draw up a new bonding bill next year:
May 26, 1999 - Before leaving for California to promote his autobiography, Governor Ventura closed the books on the 1999 legislative session by vetoing almost $110 MILLION dollars worth of state spending and borrowing. He cut most of the money with line-item vetoes in larger bills, affecting a wide range of programs and projects. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.
May 21, 1999 - The wrangling over the largest tax cut in state history ended last Monday night, but the fight over who gets to take credit for it has just begun. The state Republican party bought a full-page ad in the Star Tribune yesterday thanking House Republicans for the tax cut -- and suggested Governor Ventura and the Democrats opposed it.
May 21, 1999 - Clean-up time has begun at the state capitol. Legislative leaders and the Governor's staff are beginning to sift through the thousands of pages of legislation passed in the final few hours of the session on Monday -- with an eye to weed some of it out before it has a chance to become law.
May 13, 1999 -
April 30, 1999 - The Minnesota House has approved a tax relief package worth $3.3 Billion dollars over two years -- potentially the largest tax cut in state history. House Republicans say the bill is just a "down-payment" on the tax relief promises they made during the election -- but Senate Democrats say Republicans have gone too far.
April 27, 1999 - 2nd District Congressman David Minge today put one foot in the race to challenge Republican U.S. Senator Rod Grams. The DFLer from Montevideo announced the formation of a so-called "exploratory committee," which will allow him to raise funds for the 2000 race without formally calling himself a candidate.
April 27, 1999 - The Minnesota House has approved a bill to spend $7-point-8 Billion dollars on K-through-12 schools over the next two years. The bill is $90 Million dollars more than Governor Ventura budgeted, and spends almost one Billion dollars more than in the previous two-year period. Still, many Democrats say the legislation doesn't spend enough on all school districts.